View full sizeAP Photo | Patrick SemanskyBobby Petrino and Ryan Mallett will count on their offensive line to drive their offense.

New Orleans -- Arkansas offensive tackle DeMarcus Love moves from the left side to the right side, typically lining up without the help of a tight end, ready to neutralize whichever defensive end lines up across from him. Asked how many times he'd been beaten on a play during his 12-game season, Love, a senior projected as a first-round pick, estimated Friday it was only between five and 10 times.

"He's the best offensive lineman I've seen since I played with Jake Long at Michigan," Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett said, comparing Love to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. "He hasn't given up a sack in two years. He's the best tackle in the country."

Love should seldom face Ohio State's best defensive lineman. In Ohio State's defense, the Buckeyes typically line up their smaller, quicker defensive end, their Leo position, on the side opposite the tight end. That means Love won't face Ohio State's Cameron Heyward very much, instead most often blocking Nathan Williams in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night.

Mallett, a Michigan transfer, said he's looking out for Heyward.

"We're going to have to block Heyward. He's a great player, you can see that on film," Mallett said.

And he's comfortable with everything Love does.

"It's great standing back there and it's great being able to call a run play and check it to his side and know it'll be a successful play," Mallett said.

Knowing they were wrong: Certainly, getting past the future suspensions of six Buckeyes for the start of the 2011 season might be a test of a team's leadership. Senior OSU defensive tackle Dexter Larimore said Friday that it hasn't been as much of a test as people might think.

"When you truly look at it, I think those guys know what they did and they're sorry for what they did, and there's not that much leadership that goes into it because they are truly sorry," Larimore said.

"It's not like we're saying, 'You did something wrong,' and they're like, 'No, we didn't.' That takes leadership, making sure they know what they did. What happened here, they say they know what they did and they got punished for it and from here we have to focus on the bowl game."

After OSU assistant coaches monitored interviews on Thursday and cut off most questions related to the suspensions, senior defenders Larimore, Heyward, ChimdiChekwa, BrianRolle and RossHoman spoke freely without interruption on Friday.

Big Ten connections: Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee coached at Northwestern for four seasons between 2004 and 2007 and said he's put his knowledge of Ohio State to good use this week.

"Where it could help the most is when there are people possibly trying to convince our kids that because [Ohio State] has lost to SEC teams in the past that they're not as fast and as talented, and I think that's where it helps -- I can counter that. That's not true at all," McGee said.

"So all of the talk about Ohio State not being fast, I don't buy into that at all. There's a game I coached where they had us 47-zip at halftime. So, I don't buy into that stuff that Ohio State's not fast."

It was actually only 45-0 at the half in Ohio State's 58-7 win over Northwestern in 2007. But McGee was on the staff when the Wildcats upset the Buckeyes in overtime in 2004. One thing McGee remembered most from that was a touchdown catch from Ohio State's Santonio Holmes that he called "one of the greatest catches I've seen in a college football game."

Michigan man: Mallett threw three passes against Ohio State while a freshman at Michigan in 2007, and he was asked about his Michigan roots about 30 times on Friday.

"That rivalry was ingrained in me up there and it just stayed in my system," Mallett said. "I don't go to school at Michigan anymore, but I know what it's like to get prepared for that game."

Mallett transferred to Arkansas after Rich Rodriguez was hired by the Wolverines and it became clear that a dropback passer like Mallett wouldn't fit his spread offense.

"I talked to him about his offense and it was kind of a mutual decision," Mallett said. "I didn't want to stay and run the ball. What's what he got Denard [Robinson] for."

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